


All Zeroes

by vampgirltish



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, SOULMATE TIMERS, Soulmate AU, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 09:38:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5158955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vampgirltish/pseuds/vampgirltish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You were going to meet your soulmate today.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Time](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3325493) by [MHGeek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MHGeek/pseuds/MHGeek). 



You were going to meet your soulmate today.

That was the first thought of your conscious brain that morning as you looked at your wrist in the mirror while brushing your teeth. The dark black numbers were screaming against your skin now, so many zeroes and so few hours.

_000 d 013 h 045 m 014 sec_

You remembered when your timer didn't even have seconds, minutes or hours on it. Back when it had years, months, weeks, and days. It felt so long ago now.

Your soulmate clearly was one you hadn't met before. Not someone at your work and certainly not someone you've met outside of there thus far. It wasn't that hot guy who worked at your office... What was his name? You couldn't entirely remember. And it wasn't that guy you kissed at the bar the other day. He was sweet and funny, but the orangey sunset of his hair wasn't it, you surmised. What was his name either? Matt? No, Mark, you decided. He wasn't even memorable enough for you to know his name either.

You pulled on your shoes, not realizing in your absence your brain had picked up habit's movements and gotten dressed for you. Grabbing your phone, bag, and keys, you went to work.

~*~

At lunchtime, your counter had changed.

_000 d 005 h 012 m 033 sec_

Five hours, you thought to yourself. Five hours until you'd meet your soulmate. You decided you were going to watch your timer the whole way until you met them. It was important that you see the exact moment the timer filled with zeroes and you met the person of your dreams and you'd be able to live--

Your thoughts were cut off by your boss walking over. "(y/n), I need you to handle this for me. Can you do that for me?" She handed you a large Manila folder full of papers that needed to be catalogued, filed, and sorted.

It made you sick to your stomach to think you had this much work to do. But you nodded, smiled, "Sure, no problem, ma'am." She smiles at you, thanks you for your dedication to the company, and walks away. You knew her response was superficial, but kept this to yourself as you began cataloging the information into your computer.

~*~

You didn't expect to be held so late.

_000 d 000 h 015 m 003 sec_

You needed to get going or you were going to miss your soulmate. Then again, there haven't been any cases of people missing their soulmates. Not any reported cases anyways. You bit your lip as you typed in the last bit of information.

You snatched up your things, turning to the expanse of the office and the four people still left, saying, "I'm off! Goodnight everyone."

Several half-interested responses came, and you took your leave.

_000 d 000 h 008 m 056 sec_

You started walking to your apartment complex but decided to stop in a coffee shop on the way back. You deserved something after your long day.

_000 d 000 h 003 m 034 sec_

You gave them your name and ordered some sort of pastry too. They called your name a minute or so later. You took the pastry and the cup into your hands, starting for a table in the sitting lounge area of the shop.

Suddenly your chest was hot. Oh, yeah. Coffee's hot. You forgot this until it had been spilled down your front.

"Oh! Shit! I'm so sorry. Here, let me--I... Shit. Do you want me to grab you some napkins?"

"No, it's okay," you say, not looking up, instead choosing to look as the brownish tint of your coffee spread through the baby blue of your blouse.

"At least let me buy you a new coffee since I fucked up this one."

At this point you looked up to find a mass of brown curls and beautiful knowing eyes. Even though he was thoroughly embarrassed--and his cheeks gave that away--he still was giving you a lopsided grin that was apologetic and adorable all at once.

"Okay," you agreed. You wouldn't turn down free coffee.

"Tell me your order?" he asks, and you do. He orders this along with something for himself, then offers a hand, "I'm Danny."

"Nice to meet you. (y/n)," you reply.

"God, I'm horrible at first introductions, aren't I?" His self-deprecation was a little endearing to you.

"You're not all bad, it happens."

Silence had fallen while you two waited for your drink to be made, since it had gotten busy in the local coffee shop since you'd first walked in, walked into Danny...

You passed the time the way you usually did, watching the seconds tick down on your timer. You looked down at it.

_000 d 000 h 000 m 000 sec_

Wait. You double checked. You weren't wrong. All zeroes. That can't be right. You tried discreetly to see Danny's timer, but the sleeves of the flannel and leather jacket he had on blocked everything. Was Danny your soulmate?

You supposed you could live with that. After all, he seemed pretty dorky. Sweet. Respectful and honest. Kind, too, considering he was buying you a coffee because he ran into you. Usually people will run into you and not care.

Danny felt different for some reason, like some part of him was special only to him. Something to be treasured. You watched him, talking nicely with the worker making your drink, curls bouncing as he giggled and white teeth looking whiter still in the light. His eyes were crinkled almost-shut in laughter and a small part of you was already wishing, wanting to cause that laughter in him too.

Without realizing it, you followed him after receiving your new drink, letting yourself sit across from him at one of the tables. He didn’t object, and started casual conversation.

“Where do you work?” he asked.

You told him the name of the office you worked at. “But it’s not really something I enjoy. I’m doing it for the job.”

“That sucks,” Danny says, voice soft.

You asked him a question, trying to ask it delicately. He was your soulmate, so the answer should be obvious. “Were you--waiting on somebody?”

“N-no, well- no. Not exactly. My girlfriend was going to come by but she texted me a little bit before I ran into you. She can’t come.”

And just like that, the cold slap of reality hit you, more painful than pulling teeth.

“Are you two soulmates?” you blurted, and this pulled a smile on his face.

“Yeah, we met through work. She was friends with a friend of mine.” The way his face lit up told you he really loved her, really cared about her. It sent an empty feeling straight to the pit of your stomach. You were his, but he wasn’t yours.

You stood, grabbing up your coffee and your coat quicker than was probably normal. “Hey, um, I should probably get home.”

“But we just sat down, (y/n),” he says, and the way he says your name sends a pang of pain right through you. “Stay awhile!”

You shook your head, “I just- I just remembered I left some clothes in the wash. I don’t want them to get gross.”

He nodded, not entirely convinced, but let you go, “Can I at least get your number? I want to talk with you more.”

You reached for a napkin and scribbled your digits on it quickly, offering him a forced, quick goodbye and leaving. You slammed the doors to the shop, and then all but ran home. Tears stung your eyes but you kept them in until you reached your pillows in your bed.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You were his, but he wasn't yours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings for mentions of (sort of) self mutilation and a mention of death. don't worry, it's not dan or you.

Danny texted you a few times throughout the week, and you ignored practically all of them. You responded politely to asking how you were doing and things like that, but didn’t really make an effort to keep conversation. It felt empty to you to try.

_You were his, but he wasn’t yours._

This was a mantra, a loop that repeated end over end over end until it drove you insane. You couldn’t take this hell anymore.

In the rage that induced from it, the pain of realizing your soulmate was a lost cause, an empty hope, you tried scratching your timer away, scraping at the zeroes over and over and over until your arms bled. When that didn’t work, you tried striping band-aids over it, masking the numbers only briefly until they ripped off. You ended up wearing long sleeves, even during the hottest days of the month, avoiding looking at them, those zeroes that cursed you ultimately.

Dan kept texting you and you kept ignoring his messages. He would send them throughout the day, saying what he was doing at work, what he had for lunch, something funny one of his friends (you didn’t bother to learn their names) had said. Anything to try to get you to talk to him. You didn’t want to listen.

Until he sent you a message that sunk your heart right to your stomach.

**> My timer reset.**

Those three words confused you, maybe more than they confused him. You responded quickly after he sent it to you.

**< What do you mean?**

**> My timer started again. 3 hours, 15 minutes, 23 seconds.**

How had his reset? What happened to his girlfriend?

**< What happened to your soulmate?**

**> I don’t know.**

You didn’t know what to say to him, so you left it be. He texted you again a couple hours later.

**> She didn’t come home.**

**< What?**

**> She died**

**< You’re joking.**

**> She got hit by a car she’s dead I’m never going to see her again**

**< Hey...hey it’s okay.**

**> It’s not ok no one can replace her**

**< Call me.**

You’d hoped maybe these two words would show you wanted to be there for him. Even if he wasn’t yours, you were still his and you didn’t want to leave him in the dark. After all, his soulmate died. That’s something you couldn’t even fathom.

Though, in a way, you could, because he’d been someone else’s before. You’d had a soulmate but hadn’t had one. It was a mess and it made you a mess. You just hoped he wouldn’t destroy himself the way you had.

Your phone began ringing, and you saw his name on the display. You answered and his voice was strained, talking a million miles a minute.

“They called me and said she got T-boned by some asshole who ran a red light and she died in impact and then my timer reset and it’s still counting down and I don’t know what it means and I’m scared, I’m so fucking--”

“Danny. Stop. Breathe.”

You heard him quiet, and take a breath. You encouraged him to breathe some more, and while he did, you couldn’t help but glance at your timer. It reset as well.

_000 d 001 h 023 m 034 s_

It didn’t have the same time as his. Your heart sunk straight to your stomach again.

“Do you want to come over? We can just sit, try to get your mind off of it for a bit,” you offered.

“Okay. I’ll come over in an hour or so? I’ve gotta finish work.”

“Don’t stress yourself. See you then.”

The fact that your timer wasn’t the same time as his, not by a long shot, made you sick. You threw up in your bathroom a couple times before he came to your apartment. He looked a mess, circles under his eyes and hair matted to his face from tears. He pulled you into a hug, tight and needy, and you let him have this. Dan needed the support. You had to give that to him, give him support.

You watched some TV show that Dan really liked until he passed out on your couch. His head rested against your shoulder right as your timer hit all zeroes again. You ran your fingers through his hair and just let him sleep. You woke him up a few hours later, offering him some food you’d ordered. He picked at it.

Little was said between you two. In the silence you decided you weren't going to tell Danny you were his soulmate, that your timer kept counting down to when you saw him next. You wouldn't tell him now or ever. You figured it was fate that you were his but he wasn't yours.

Dan left a half hour after picking at the Chinese food you offered. After he left, you opened up your computer and typed in a simple phrase. ‘What does it mean when my soulmate isn't mine?’

A few websites for those bizarre occult groups came up, claiming that you were chosen by the moon gods because you had a soulmate who had a different soulmate and that the moons aligned that way just for you and that circumstance. You rolled your eyes.

A website came up of a forum where the original poster said that their soulmate counter stopped before their soulmates did. Another commenter on the same thread said that their stopped after their soulmates had. A third said that theirs had stopped after their soulmate had already found a different soulmate.

You frowned. This gave you little help except that some others had experienced problems similar to yours. You wanted solutions, answers.

A website from a local university doing studies in soulmates contained a thesis about lost soulmates. You couldn't stop yourself from reading all of it. It reassured you.

The thesis promised that it was normal (even though you really doubted that). The words insisted that you wait for things to work out or change. The changes either being that your timer resets for a different person, or you both die. The paper cleared up that you just had to sort of let things happen, see how they went.

You decided that that was all you really could do. Wait for things to happen.

~*~

Waiting for things to happen was difficult. Definitely a learned skill, not an inborn one. You sighed out, and listened to the voicemail Dan had left you. It had been about a month since he lost his soulmate.

The voicemail was choked out, as you expected. He choked out a lot of things lately, as far as talking went. “(y/n), I’m so sick I'm sick of it and I don't want to be part of the soulmate roulette anymore I just want Alexcia back.” You could practically hear his head running in run on sentences. “Please be patient with me I'm trying my best. Okay? I’ll see you at some point soon.”

The voicemail ended as quickly as it started. This was unusual for Dan. Usually his voicemails were ten minutes long and filled with about four minutes of crying these days. You didn’t know what to say to him anymore. He was so broken and you didn't know what to do to fix him.

He had met a girl while he was grieving Alexcia. Her name was Olivia. She was nice, blonde, careful. She never crossed against lights and always wrote hearts above her ‘i’s. Dan was nice to her, but he couldn't even think about the fact that she was supposed to be his soulmate, that his timer had stopped again, because of Alexcia. She rejected Danny very quickly after that. His timer restarted and so did yours. You didn’t care. He didn’t care. Nothing seemed to matter. 

**Author's Note:**

> this started out as a thing inspired by another thing, then i got into it and made it really sad. i wrote more than the two chapters im posting, but i don't really like past these two so i'm not going to post them.
> 
> this is also sort of a gift to my friend tiff, because she got to read little bits and pieces of this as i was writing it, and she helped me with the direction of the story. love you <3


End file.
